[Spiders]

The original tweet: (edit: updated to show the start of the twitter thread)



What do you guys think?

1) Can it make a difference?
2) Could you do it?
3) Will you do it?

I remember on the Old Forum @DonDonDonPata had a challenge thread where people would not buy or play any new games for one year ( I don't remember the exact details ). I ended up doing this challenge on my own for 2021 and it was awesome. Got me through some backlog, played some awesome games and some real stinkers, and recalibrated my vulnerability to Hype and my spending habits.

I'm not sure it'll do anything, but I'm down for the challenge, the accountability, and the Talmudic arguments over whether Helldivers 2 counts, if Nintendo is AAA, if I can get the Elden Ring DLC and still be a Good Gamer, if a free code from a developer can be played, pirated copies at a friend's house, etc.

 

[p_banned]

It's not about AAA but more about wokeness in games. I'm boycotting anything woke.

 

[HE1NZ]

Been doing this challenge for a decade.

 

[Calcium]

I'll continue to buy anything that isn't completely ruined by woke bullshit and ignore everything else. Fuck, I got the Horizon sequel for free with the PS5 and I didn't even bother using the code.

 

[Rock And Roll]

Been doing this challenge for a decade.

Don't you play Ubisoft games?

 

[HE1NZ]

Don't you play Ubisoft games?

After they launch on Steam. So at least 2 years after.

 

[skeem]

It's not about AAA but more about wokeness in games. I'm boycotting anything woke.

This, I'm doing this too.

In regards to the thread as a whole. It is so difficult to draw up numbers. Let's say a thousand people take part, it wouldn't really make any difference. Finding that magic moment to truly make something viral and count in such a large way is very difficult for anything grassroots related. Most people, despite being in agreement will not act because they are cautious of the chance of success. They will complain about the problems freely tho, which is what can be used to the advantage.

So that's why, as noted above I will just inform myself on games I might want to avoid. I'm pretty good at spotting them at this point and I think word of mouth at the moment is also the best it has ever been.

I think it would need something truly special to make people stop buying all games to make this point. You definitely could tell them specific games to avoid, which is an easier and more obtainable goal.

And for as useful as this guy has been. Telling people to subscribe in the thread wreaks of opportunism.

 

[lock2k]

I'm fine. The only game I'm planning to buy is Stellar Blade anyway.

 

[Spiders]

It's not about AAA but more about wokeness in games. I'm boycotting anything woke.

Where is the AAA oasis from woke? Also how do you put pressure on a "non-woke" game with CMs that can run ops on the 'community' a la Helldivers 2?

 

[Spiders]

This, I'm doing this too.

In regards to the thread as a whole. It is so difficult to draw up numbers. Let's say a thousand people take part, it wouldn't really make any difference. Finding that magic moment to truly make something viral and count in such a large way is very difficult for anything grassroots related. Most people, despite being in agreement will not act because they are cautious of the chance of success. They will complain about the problems freely tho, which is what can be used to the advantage.

So that's why, as noted above I will just inform myself on games I might want to avoid. I'm pretty good at spotting them at this point and I think word of mouth at the moment is also the best it has ever been.

I think it would need something truly special to make people stop buying all games to make this point. You definitely could tell them specific games to avoid, which is an easier and more obtainable goal.

And for as useful as this guy has been. Telling people to subscribe in the thread wreaks of opportunism.

This is all true, and good points.

I guess if I had to make a counterpoint it's that we got slowboiled to this point in the first place, so it was us who bought the games that led us here. You can't tell me nobody in this thread has made and played a Body Type A/B character yet.

As far as Grummz goes, he seems like a solid dude. He only started promoting is game because his twitter followers and content creators pressed him too, so I think he's asking for subs in good faith to be a flashpoint Libs Of TikTok style.

 

[lock2k]

Where is the AAA oasis from woke? Also how do you put pressure on a "non-woke" game with CMs that can run ops on the 'community' a la Helldivers 2?

Everything AAA is woke. Some are more, some less, but they are all fucking infected.

 

[Spiders]

Everything AAA is woke. Some are more, some less, but they are all fucking infected.

That's kind of where I'm at too. Best case you have something like Helldivers 2 (not AAA but still) where they think they're pulling a fast one on gamers too stupid to realize, or like Dragon's Dogma 2 you just pick Body Type X and take your medicine.
I don't know how much I care if woke people made good games with interpretable messages, but if we're having a moment, why let them have the laugh?

 

[kiNeMs]

Its possible. Suicide squad is the pilot.

 

[p_banned]

Where is the AAA oasis from woke? Also how do you put pressure on a "non-woke" game with CMs that can run ops on the 'community' a la Helldivers 2?

You have woke AA games. I won't buy them either.

 

[Pyrate]

a challenge thread where people would not buy or play any new games for one year

easiest challenge of all time. Been practically doing this for the last few years, except for Pizza Tower last year, Elden Ring in 2022 and God of War in 2018, otherwise I'm pretty sure every game I get is at least one year old or more.

 

[HeresJohnny]

This is good for all the people who haven't already gotten involved with boycotting companies that use woke garbage in their games, but for us if argue most have already been doing it to some degree or another

 

[DonDonDonPata]

The original tweet:



What do you guys think?

1) Can it make a difference?
2) Could you do it?
3) Will you do it?

I remember on the Old Forum @DonDonDonPata had a challenge thread where people would not buy or play any new games for one year ( I don't remember the exact details ). I ended up doing this challenge on my own for 2021 and it was awesome. Got me through some backlog, played some awesome games and some real stinkers, and recalibrated my vulnerability to Hype and my spending habits.

I'm not sure it'll do anything, but I'm down for the challenge, the accountability, and the Talmudic arguments over whether Helldivers 2 counts, if Nintendo is AAA, if I can get the Elden Ring DLC and still be a Good Gamer, if a free code from a developer can be played, pirated copies at a friend's house, etc.

Yup, sounds like the No New Games Challenge we did on GAF for several years running. That was fun, and I definitely fell in love with gaming all over again simply by not buying and playing new games for 12 months. I ended up going a full 24 months buying no new games, and then the third year I bailed about halfway through (I forget what I bought but it was probably good).

I'm still catching up on good games and -- controversial opinion maybe -- honestly the "Covid Years" of 2021-2023 are packed with incredible games as long as you don't care too hard about AAA.

 

[JSoup]

Shouldn't be difficult, really. I don't buy many games these days and if it's something AAA, if I touch it at all it'll be because it hit PSN+. And I'm more likely to fritter away time in WoW or some other pointless MMO.

 

[Spiders]

easiest challenge of all time. Been practically doing this for the last few years, except for Pizza Tower last year, Elden Ring in 2022 and God of War in 2018, otherwise I'm pretty sure every game I get is at least one year old or more.

You're not buying new releases in general or just AAA? Pizza Tower is throwing me off!

I think I'm in the same boat — same games too funny enough — but I'd have to consult the Elders on if Nintendo would count because I do grab those Day 1 usually.

I still have this weird "support" mentality for smaller studio releases doing bold design, or like being held hostage by publishers "testing the market" for franchises and genres, but I'm much better with it than I was.

 

[Pyrate]

You're not buying new releases in general or just AAA? Pizza Tower is throwing me off!

AAA I guess, I said Pizza Tower just because I took a quick look at my steam library and indeed that was the only 2023 game I got in 2023 so I included it, and I guess it shouldn't count.

But to clear the confusion, you could say my most consistent condition to get a game is the price, I actually had to think long about this, but I think the only 2 games I ever bought full price/near launch were Just Cause 3 and Uncharted 4, and I do mean the only 2 games, ever, if memory serves me right. My strat is buying used discs, I get pretty good deals on AAA games when I decide to buy them second hand in a year or more after release, so whenever the price is good, and I feel like getting the game, I go for it, this is why I got Pizza Tower early as it's not a full priced game. Elden Ring I got second hand as the game to spend time through a lovely month of Ramadan that year, it was the perfect game for the time so I couldn't wait, after finishing it and realising I didn't actually like it too much I quickly resold it for a price higher than what I bought it for! So technically even this example doesn't count, now that I think about it, and no, I don't have special relationships with Nintendo (haven't bought a nintendo console since the Wii/DSiXL) or artsy or risky games. Rules are rules (unless they port Bloodborne to PC, or Silksong actually comes out, that is).

But I guess to answer your call, I think a more targetted boycott is indeed the better way to do this little campaign, as I just know some people really just can't get over the FOMO feeling and feel like they have to get every single new game their youtubers or twitter talks about. So limiting it to the few "chosen ones" could be an acceptable compromise.

 

[Dacon]

Tbh I feel like I buy maybe 1 big triple A game a year, and pretty much nothing at full price.

 

[Amorous Biscuit]

The problem won't lie with the more enthusiast crowd such as ourselves. It's on the normies to stop buying the AAA slop like Spider-Man or whatever Ubisoft put out.

Though we can and should continue to vote with our wallets and boycott this rubbish they keep putting out.

 

[Spiders]

AAA I guess, I said Pizza Tower just because I took a quick look at my steam library and indeed that was the only 2023 game I got in 2023 so I included it, and I guess it shouldn't count.

But to clear the confusion, you could say my most consistent condition to get a game is the price, I actually had to think long about this, but I think the only 2 games I ever bought full price/near launch were Just Cause 3 and Uncharted 4, and I do mean the only 2 games, ever, if memory serves me right. My strat is buying used discs, I get pretty good deals on AAA games when I decide to buy them second hand in a year or more after release, so whenever the price is good, and I feel like getting the game, I go for it, this is why I got Pizza Tower early as it's not a full priced game. Elden Ring I got second hand as the game to spend time through a lovely month of Ramadan that year, it was the perfect game for the time so I couldn't wait, after finishing it and realising I didn't actually like it too much I quickly resold it for a price higher than what I bought it for! So technically even this example doesn't count, now that I think about it, and no, I don't have special relationships with Nintendo (haven't bought a nintendo console since the Wii/DSiXL) or artsy or risky games. Rules are rules (unless they port Bloodborne to PC, or Silksong actually comes out, that is).

But I guess to answer your call, I think a more targetted boycott is indeed the better way to do this little campaign, as I just know some people really just can't get over the FOMO feeling and feel like they have to get every single new game their youtubers or twitter talks about. So limiting it to the few "chosen ones" could be an acceptable compromise.

That makes sense and hope it at least gets that far and moves things in that direction.

What I do think is so powerful about a moratorium though is exactly because of what you said: it would force content creators off the hype cycle, and it would put a moral counterweight against FOMO — the Achille's Heel of gamers.

 

[Neil Young]

I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water. Isn't capcom AAA? Nintendo? Like others have said, I think the Sweet Baby debacle has opened up A LOT of eyes and will cause massive profit losses. I know I will never buy another Insomniac game and they used to be one of my favorite developers. Same goes for that new Star Wars game. Shit, how many sales do you think that cunt cost Ubisoft? Going forward, I'll do more research to make sure a game is free from THE MESSAGE.

 

[HariSeldon]

I'm in. Exception being Nintendo who are generally good eggs.

 

[Spiders]

I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water. Isn't capcom AAA? Nintendo? Like others have said, I think the Sweet Baby debacle has opened up A LOT of eyes and will cause massive profit losses. I know I will never buy another Insomniac game and they used to be one of my favorite developers. Same goes for that new Star Wars game. Shit, how many sales do you think that cunt cost Ubisoft? Going forward, I'll do more research to make sure a game is free from THE MESSAGE.

But what if it's a 'sweet' baby? lol

I think you're right and this raised awareness and people calling it out more will move the needle, and give us a better 'early warning system' but like I said in that post above yours I think there's second order effects of a more broad moratorium that could help fix the deeper issues with the hype/fomo cycle that keeps the attention on the faucet, waiting for the next drip, rather than digging wells.

I don't think it was a big deal personally, but it shows the shape of the problem as I see it — the backlash against Dragon's Dogma 2 MTX. Our new media content creators got codes, review kits, and handlers — just like the old media — so everybody found out after they bought the game.
I think that these spotty boycotts are going to make woke content more subtle, obfuscated from reviewers, and deliberately put past the 2 hour refund window — kind of like how woke shows don't show their hand until the 3rd episode so they can trap viewer's into a sunken cost fallacy.

 

[regawdless]

I simply stopped buying woketard shit. Not going to bother financing people who hate me for some hours of entertainment, when I can get my entertainment from other games.

 

[Stilton Disco]

I simply stopped buying woketard shit. Not going to bother financing people who hate me for some hours of entertainment, when I can get my entertainment from other games.

This. There's 40 years of great games that don't try to push far left hatred on me I can play even if absolutely every new game becomes awash with this shite, and that's thankfully not yet the case.

 

[regawdless]

This. There's 40 years of great games that don't try to push far left hatred on me I can play even if absolutely every new game becomes awash with this shite, and that's thankfully not yet the case.

And there are more than enough indie games available that are non political, simply fun oriented and more keep coming, like SPGP

 

[lock2k]

https://planetoftheapes.fandom.com/wiki/Human_Doll

In Planet of the Apes 1968, Cornelius was a scientist and he did experiments in the forbidden zone, a zone that was quarantined because the ruling Apes hid it from other Apes so they wouldn't be able to discover how humans ruled the Earth once and how they were far more advanced technologically than they currently are. The talking human doll is the proof of that, found by Cornelius. He says, the more he goes into the past, the more advanced these tools get.

This is why I call the current state of gaming the "Planet of the Apes Complex" because it seems like the further we go into the past things get more advanced. Gaming, apart from graphical capabilities, in the AAA space, has greatly regressed and things that we had as guaranteed in terms of content in gameplay decades ago are now broken, downloadable, monetized, you name it. It's the medium that could have progressed the most but it has regressed enormously.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

https://planetoftheapes.fandom.com/wiki/Human_Doll

In Planet of the Apes 1968, Cornelius was a scientist and he did experiments in the forbidden zone, a zone that was quarantined because the ruling Apes hid it from other Apes so they wouldn't be able to discover how humans ruled the Earth once and how they were far more advanced technologically than they currently are. The talking human doll is the proof of that, found by Cornelius. He says, the more he goes into the past, the more advanced these tools get.

This is why I call the current state of gaming the "Planet of the Apes Complex" because it seems like the further we go into the past things get more advanced. Gaming, apart from graphical capabilities, in the AAA space, has greatly regressed and things that we had as guaranteed in terms of content in gameplay decades ago are now broken, downloadable, monetized, you name it. It's the medium that could have progressed the most but it has regressed enormously.

I feel like gaming innovation peaked and then ground to a halt somewhere in the late 2000s. In the 80s and 90s, simulation was getting pretty crazy, we just didn't have the graphics to show what was going on underneath the hood. The Ultima series, Elite, Battlecruiser 3000AD, Master of Orion, Master of Magic, Daggerfall... the physics weren't quite there but the emergent gameplay definitely was. By the 00s games like Shogun Total War and Mount & Blade were finally blending large-scale maps and large-scale battles, and shooters had dynamic maps, location-based damage, dismemberment, and precise physics. Dwarf Fortress was late 00s. Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS were late 00s.

I can't say games have actually advanced very far from what we glimpsed in the 90s and 00s. Many genres have devolved by reducing the number of features and the amount of complexities. FPS games today compared to the 90s are a joke which is why all the indies are literally making 90s style shooters and getting rich for it.

 

[Pyrate]

https://planetoftheapes.fandom.com/wiki/Human_Doll

In Planet of the Apes 1968, Cornelius was a scientist and he did experiments in the forbidden zone, a zone that was quarantined because the ruling Apes hid it from other Apes so they wouldn't be able to discover how humans ruled the Earth once and how they were far more advanced technologically than they currently are. The talking human doll is the proof of that, found by Cornelius. He says, the more he goes into the past, the more advanced these tools get.

This is why I call the current state of gaming the "Planet of the Apes Complex" because it seems like the further we go into the past things get more advanced. Gaming, apart from graphical capabilities, in the AAA space, has greatly regressed and things that we had as guaranteed in terms of content in gameplay decades ago are now broken, downloadable, monetized, you name it. It's the medium that could have progressed the most but it has regressed enormously.

Wasn't expecting an anti-progress/progressiveness statement in a thread about games, but I'm all for it.

 

[Neil Young]

https://planetoftheapes.fandom.com/wiki/Human_Doll

In Planet of the Apes 1968, Cornelius was a scientist and he did experiments in the forbidden zone, a zone that was quarantined because the ruling Apes hid it from other Apes so they wouldn't be able to discover how humans ruled the Earth once and how they were far more advanced technologically than they currently are. The talking human doll is the proof of that, found by Cornelius. He says, the more he goes into the past, the more advanced these tools get.

This is why I call the current state of gaming the "Planet of the Apes Complex" because it seems like the further we go into the past things get more advanced. Gaming, apart from graphical capabilities, in the AAA space, has greatly regressed and things that we had as guaranteed in terms of content in gameplay decades ago are now broken, downloadable, monetized, you name it. It's the medium that could have progressed the most but it has regressed enormously.

Hell yeah. Sports games are a great example. Jesus Christ have these games regressed. NFL games peaked with NFL2K5!!! You can watch YouTube videos right now that show that some features included in that game have NEVER been improved upon or even duplicated. AND, they released this all-time great sports game for 20 dollars.

Starfield is another example. We were expecting all the great things from Skyrim and Fallout with a fresh coat of paint. It went backwards.

Thank goodness their are still some developers who want to get better. Larian with Baldurs Gate 3 caused an uproar as they demonstrated how polished, feature rich a game could be. Oh no, can't have that. No Mans sky developers are releasing constant updates with no mtx.

 

[Joe T.]

I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water. Isn't capcom AAA? Nintendo? Like others have said, I think the Sweet Baby debacle has opened up A LOT of eyes and will cause massive profit losses. I know I will never buy another Insomniac game and they used to be one of my favorite developers. Same goes for that new Star Wars game. Shit, how many sales do you think that cunt cost Ubisoft? Going forward, I'll do more research to make sure a game is free from THE MESSAGE.

Capcom and Nintendo are guilty, they just haven't been so overt about it. They're 100% with ESG, which the woke/DEI issue stems from - throw that into Google search along with their names and you'll see for yourself. It's looking like both may step up efforts, too.





There was a lot to like about the newest Super Mario movie, but it had some of the same tired messaging as all other woke content which was completely unnecessary. It goes beyond pride flags and making women uglier to avoid "the male gaze," which seems to be the first thing that catches everyone's eye.

 

[Optimus]

The original tweet: (edit: updated to show the start of the twitter thread)



What do you guys think?

1) Can it make a difference?
2) Could you do it?
3) Will you do it?

I remember on the Old Forum @DonDonDonPata had a challenge thread where people would not buy or play any new games for one year ( I don't remember the exact details ). I ended up doing this challenge on my own for 2021 and it was awesome. Got me through some backlog, played some awesome games and some real stinkers, and recalibrated my vulnerability to Hype and my spending habits.

I'm not sure it'll do anything, but I'm down for the challenge, the accountability, and the Talmudic arguments over whether Helldivers 2 counts, if Nintendo is AAA, if I can get the Elden Ring DLC and still be a Good Gamer, if a free code from a developer can be played, pirated copies at a friend's house, etc.

Consider me cynical, but this sounds like a great way to ween AAA game companies off of the "toxic" white-male audience the DEI crowd has been trying to rid the industry of. What better way to ensure we never get anything catered to us anymore than to drop ourselves from the audience of our own volition. Then everything will be bright colorful and gay all the time because the bigoted white supremacists don't buy the games -- the very same thing we accuse the clown troons of.

I don't recommend we buy the uber woke garbage but we should be prepared to show the big publishers what the desired path is, and when they fail to take it they eat the costs.

 

[Chozofication]

I do wonder though… you know, as expensive as these AAA games are to make, if the industry had a bud light moment the corporations might just say gamers don't care about single player, pull the wool over their faces and just stop making them instead of changing.

Very easy for these types of people to get the wrong message and they're scared of saying the real reason we stopped buying even if they know.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

I do wonder though… you know, as expensive as these AAA games are to make, if the industry had a bud light moment the corporations might just say gamers don't care about single player, pull the wool over their faces and just stop making them instead of changing.

Very easy for these types of people to get the wrong message and they're scared of saying the real reason we stopped buying even if they know.

y'know the funny thing about good single player games.... they tend to be good for a replay or two or five. I'm still going back to very very old single player games so if they stop making them for a year or two while the market resets, oh well.

 

[Chozofication]

y'know the funny thing about good single player games.... they tend to be good for a replay or two or five. I'm still going back to very very old single player games so if they stop making them for a year or two while the market resets, oh well.

I honestly don't care either. I mean, they could take 5 years to reset and I wouldn't care.

A great game literally never gets old to me. I must have played majoras mask, paper mario, re4 a dozen times each by now.

Not to mention, hundreds of games in my backlog. Yeah… kinda hard to care lol.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

I honestly don't care either. I mean, they could take 5 years to reset and I wouldn't care.

A great game literally never gets old to me. I must have played majoras mask, paper mario, re4 a dozen times each by now.

Not to mention, hundreds of games in my backlog. Yeah… kinda hard to care lol.

I'm pretty sure the flood of all these remakes and reimaginings is because they know that's what gamers are still playing so they might as well profit off it. I think publishers can be more clever than we sometimes give them credit for.

 

[JORMBO]

I don't really play many AAA games today. Spiderman 2 was kind of the final straw that turned me off them. It's not even just the woke stuff. A lot of times that can easily be ignored outside of a few eye rolls. But the games themselves are becoming so paint by number they are no longer fun. Now we have generic games with boring story/characters and repetitive gameplay that has been done a billion times. Easy to not buy this stuff.

There are plenty of Japanese games, smaller games, indie games that don't have any of these issues. I will stick to those as I have been doing. And if things collapse I have plenty to play in my backlog to last for awhile. And if I get through that a lot of games are replayable so I am not worried.